Policy Topics

Education and Race: An Analysis of the Educational Production Process

Author/s:

Eric A. Hanushek

Published Date:

1972

Publication:

Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath

Pages:

176 pages

Chapter one of this study of the education of minorities in the United States delineates the past record of the educational system in equating the educational levels of whites and minorities. It also sets the background of the educational system in terms of the dynamics of urban areas and the financial problems faced by school systems. Within chapter two, the basic concepts of production relationships for education are described. Such input-output relationships provide a basic method for organizing what we know about the educational process. From a production function, it is possible to make decisions about educational policy. This chapter both describes the decision rules which administrators should use and presents a conceptual model of the educational process. Chapters three through five illustrate how data from the past operations of the school system can be used to gain insights into the educational process. Statistical models representing the educational process in elementary schools are developed. Chapter six looks into the question of school desegregation in some detail. The implications of racial and ethnic composition in earlier chapters are related to current discussions of the educational value of desegregation. Finally, an attempt is made in chapter seven to outline how such an analysis provides inputs to the educational decision maker.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Topics in Public Education

Resource Allocation

2

Distribution of Educational Services

4

Production Functions for Education

7

Directions of Analysis

8

Chapter 2. A Conceptual Model of the Educational Process

A Simple Decision Rule

12

Educational Production Functions

15

A Conceptual Model

16

The Output of Education

20

Skill Aspects of Education

20

Socialization Aspects of Education

23

Joint Production

26

Inputs to Education

26

Family Background

27

Peer Group Inputs

28

Initial Endowments

29

School Factors

31

Functional Form

32

The Conceptual Model

33

Chapter 3. Single System, Individual Student Analysis

Measuring a School System

36

Do Teachers Count?

38

Efficiency Aspects of Schools

40

Characteristics of Teachers

42

White, Manual Occupation

43

White, Nonmanual Occupation

Inconsequential Inputs

Single System Conclusions

Chapter 4. Multisystem Analysis-White Education

Model Modification and Sample Data

53

Educational Production Functions for White Sixth Graders

58

Central Cities

61

Family Background

62

Pre-School

65

Migration

66

Attitudes

67

School Effects

69

Black Concentration

73

Facilities

74

The Education of Whites

76

Chapter 5. Multisystem Analysis-Black Education

Black Sample

78

Educational Production Functions for Black Sixth Graders

79

Some Minor Differences

81

Family Background and Attitudes

83

The Effect of Schools

86

Racial Composition

89

Miscellany

91

The Education of Blacks

92

Chapter 6. Race and Public Education

The Problem-Socialization Aspects

97

The Narrow Analysis of Segregation

99

Incomplete Models of Education

100

A Qualification

104

Desegregation and Educational Policy

105

Chapter 7. Summary and Beyond

The Findings

108

Implications for Policy-Resource Allocation

111

Hiring Teachers

112

Teacher Accountability

114

Implications for Policy-The Distribution of Educational Services

115

Compensatory Education

116

School Desegregation

117

Community Control of Schools

120

Restructuring Options

121

A Synthesis

122

Needed Information

123

A Final Word

124

Appendix

The OE Survey DataNotes

Bibliography

Index

List of Tables

1-1 Approval on School Bond Elections, 1962-1970
1-2 Achievement Differentials by Race and Region; Average Grade Levels Behind the Average White in the Metropolitan Northeast, Verbal Ability
3-1 F-Statistics for Null Hypothesis of Uniform Teacher Effects
3.2 Tests for Significant Effect of Pay Parameters
3-3 Variable Definitions, Means and Standard Deviations-White Manual Occupation Model
3-4 Simple Correlations for Teacher Characteristics-White Manual Sample
3-5 Variable Definitions, Means and Standard Deviations-Nonmanual Occupation Model
4-1 Distribution of White Schools by Percentage of Sixth Graders Who are Black
4-2 Variable Definitions for the White Educational Production Functions
4-3 Means and Standard Deviations for Variables in the White Educational Production Functions
5-1 Distribution of Black Schools by Percentage of Sixth Graders Who Are Black
5-2 Variable Definitions for the Black Educational Production Functions
5-3 Means and Standard Deviations for Variables in the Black Educational Production Functions
5-4 Facility Characteristics of Elementary Schools for Blacks and Whites-Metropolitan Northeast and Midwest
6-1 Distribution of Black Students by Minority Enrollment in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1968
7-1 Public Elementary and Secondary SchoolsPercentage Distribution of Classroom Teachers, By Experience and Degrees Held: 1970